Air conditioning apparatus



vA. H. EBERHART AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed' 001.T 12, 41938 Aug. 2s, '1942. l

4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR AE1-H912 H. Enum-Anm BY v ` ATTORN Aug. 25, 1942.

A. H. EBERHART 2,293,718 AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed oct. 1.2,. 193s Finn-r WALL.

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@ A ATToR Y 4 sheets-sheet 3 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 A. H. EBERHART .AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed Oct. l2, 1938 Aug. 25, 1.942.

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TTOR Y menied Aug. 25, 1942 A AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Arnimn. Ebernm, springfield, Mass., assiggor to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application October 12, 1938, Serial No. 234,511

s claims.

ditioner of simplified construction.

Another object is to provide an air cooled, self-contained room cooler in which heat leakage from the air heated by the condenser to the room air is minimized.

These and other obiects are effected by my invention as willbe apparent from the following description and claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming a, part of this application; in which:

Fig. 1 is a" perspective view of one embodiment of unit air conditioner, with the cabinet removedg'as seen from the rear;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of a detail;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, parts of the cabinet being in section along the line III-III of Fig. 5; f L

' Fig. 4 is a rear elevation, with the rear wall and the window duct removed; n

Fig. 5 is ahorizontal sectional view taken along the line V-V of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation, with parts of the cabinet in section along the line VI-VI of Fig. 8, of a second embodiment;

Fig. '1 is a rear elevation, with 'the rear wall and window duct removed, of the second embodiment; and,

Fig. 8 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII of Fig. 7.

Referring to the first embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 5, the air conditioning apparatus is enclosed in a casing I0. A horizontal partition Il, which may be of sheet metal, divides the in' terior of the casing into an upper compartment I2-containing the air cooling apparatus and a lower compartment I3 containing the refrigerant liquefying apparatus.

The apparatus is supported by a frame I4,

which includes vertical angle irons or corner posts I5 extending to the partition II,1ongitudi nal and transverse angle irons I6 connecting the upper ends of the corner posts, and longitudinal and transverse angle irons I1 connecting the lower ends of the corner posts..

The partition II may, as shown, rest directly material may be interposed therebetween, if desired.

The air cooling apparatus in the upper compartment I2 comprises an evaporator I8. A drip pan I9, resting on the partition II, is disposed l beneath the evaporator I8 for collecting condensate forming thereon. The evaporator is supported on the partition II and spaced upwardly therefrom by means of straps 2l which extend over the drip pan and which have feet 22 secured to the partition II beyond the drip pan. Rubber mountings 23 are preferably interposed between the evaporator and the straps 2l to avoid transmission of noise therebetween.

The evaporator I8 is disposed horizontally and comprises a plurality of straight, parallel tubes 24 disposed horizontally, as shown on the drawings. The adjacent ends of the tubes are connected by U-bends 25 to provide suitable refrigerant passages.' The tubes 24 are provided with vertical iinsor plates 26 providing extended heat transfer surfaces therefor. Preferably, the plates 26 extend across the entire group of tubes, as shown in Fig. 3, the plates being formed with openings through which the tubes extend. Good metallic contact between the plates and the tubes isvprovided in order to effect good heat conduc- A fan shroud 21 is mounted above the evaporator. by means of two brackets 28 mounted on v .the partition Il and disposed on the front and rear sides of the evaporator. A cloth duct member 29 extends from the evaporator IB to the fan shroud 21 to provide ow of air from the evaporator, the duct lmember 29 and the fan' shroud 21. This fan will be described later. The casing is provided with an inlet opening 32 for'admitting air from the room in which the apparatus is disposed. A lter 30 is preferably provided as shown in Fig. 3, to iter the air entering through the inlet opening 32.

The refrigerant liquefying apparatus in' the lower compartment I3 includes a motor compressor unit 4I, which is preferably of the enclosed type. It' may be mounted in any suitable manner; for example, itunay be provided with brackets or feet 42 resting on angle irons 43 extending between and connected to the longitudinal angle irons I1 of the frame I4. Rubber mountings or other suitable mountings 44 are preferably interposed between the feet 42 on the top of the frame I4, or heat insulating 55 and the angle irons 43 for minimizing transing material 48. As shown in Fig. 5, the partition 45 is of horse-shoe form in horizontal section and forms a division between inlet passages 49 and an outlet passage 5|. The end portions of the partition extend to and terminate at the l rear wall of the casing I8.

A condenser 52 is carried by the partition and disposed immediately beneath the same. The condenser is disposed horizontally and includes straight parallel tubes 53 disposed horizontally. Fins or plates 54 are preferably attached to the tubes to provide extended heat transfer surfaces therefor.

A casing member 55 partially encloses the upper portion of the condenser and includes a top wall 56, end anges 51, a front flange 58v and a rear flange 59 bent downwardly from the respective edges of the top wall 56. Th'e top wall 56 is secured to the lower edge of the partition 45, as by soldering, and the condenser is preferably removably attached to the casing member 55, as by bolts 6| extending through the end flanges 51 and the plates 54. 'I'he vertical partition 45 vand the condenser 52 may be braced laterally by braces 62 extending between the end flanges 51 and the corner posts l 5.

The top wall 56 of the casing member is formed with a circular fan opening 64. A fan shroud member 65 is attached to the top wall 56 along the rear half of the opening 64, while the adja- `cent portion ofv the partition 45 serves as a shroud for the front half ,of the opening. lA fan 66, of the propeller type, is disposed in the opening 64 immediately above the condenser, for effecting ow of air over the latter.

A motor 61 having a vertical shaft 68 is provided for driving the fans 3| and 66, and is preferably mounted on the underside of the partition Il by means of brackets 68. The motor shaft 68 is extended upwardly through the drip pan I9 and .the evaporator |8, and the fan 3|l is mounted thereon, as lshown in Figs. 3 and 4. The drip pan |9 'is formedwith an opening 1| to accommodate the shaft, and with a flange 12 around the opening to prevent the escape of con-v densate therethrough, The portions of the evaporator plates or ns 26, which would otherwise 'interfere with the shaft 68, are bent away from eachl other, as shown in Fig. 2 to provide an opening through which the shaft extends.

between adjacent ltubes and between adjacent plates or fins of the evaporator. The lower end It. will benoted, therefore, that the shaft extends 2,293,718 .mission of vibration from the motor compressor is connected through a refrigerant liquid strainer 11 to the inlet of the evaporator by a long tube of restricted bore, sometimes referred to as a capillary tube, and indicated at 18. The capillary tube serves as an expansion device for reducing the pressure of the refrigerant. 'I'he outlet of the evaporator is connected to the inlet of the compressor by a suction line. or conduit 19, which may have an accumulator 80 intercalated therein near the evaporator for the purpose of retaining any unvaporized refrigerant that may be discharged from the evaporator. The capillary tube 18 and the suction line 19 are arranged in heat transfer relation,as shown at 8|, to provide for transfer of heat from the condensed refrigerant \leaving the condenser to the vaporized refrigerant flowing from the evaporator tov the compressor.

An atomizer 82 is mounted on the shaft 68 belowl the motor 61, and a tube 83 is adapted to convey condensate from the drip pan I8 to the top of the atomizer 82, from which it is thrown against the partition 45.

The casing I9 may be of any `suitable cony struction. For example, it may comprise a member 85 providing the front and side Walls of the casing, a topwall member 88 having an outlet opening 81 registering with the fan shroud 21, and upper and lower rear wall members 88 and 89, respectively.

A horizontal duct member 9| is removably attached to the rear of the 4casing and has inlet passages 92 communicating with the inlet passages 49, and an outlet passage 93 communieating with the outlet passage 5|. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the height of the edges of the partition at the rear wall, and the height bemember 9|. It is possible, therefore, to vary considerably the height at which the duct meml ber 9| may be attached to the casing. While the of the shaft 68 is extended downwardly and the vfan 66 is mounted thereon as is apparent from the drawings.

The evaporator, the compressor and the condenser are connected in a refrigerant circuit in a' manner generally similar to any compression system. The circuit, however, includes tubing 14 attached to the partition 45, as by soldering, and containing'high temperature compressed refrigerant gas. 'I'he inlet end of the tubing 14 is connected to theeompressor discharge through a conduit 15.' The outlet end of the tubingv 14 duct member 9| is not necessarily vertically slidable, nevertheless, it is possible when constructing each unit to position the duct ata suitable height by suitably conforming the rear wall thereto, without altering any of the apparatus within the unit. For example, the upper portion 88 of the rear wall may be supplied of sumcient height to extend between the top wall vci.' the casing and the duct member when the latter is in the lowermost position, and the lower portion 89 may be supplied of sufilcient height to extend between the duct member 9| and the bottom of the casing when the duct member is at the uppermost position. Then; when the duct member 9| is positioned at the desired height, the excess 66. 'Ihe evaporator fan 3| draws air inwardly 4throughthe inlet 32 and the lter 30, upwardly over the surfaces of the evaporator, and through the cloth duct member 29,and discharges the lsame through the shroud 21 and the discharge opening 81 upwardly into the room or other enclosure n in which the unit-is placed. The fan l86 operis connected to the condenser 52 through a connecting conduit 16. The outlet of the condenser ates to induce flow of air inwardly through the' inlet passages 92 of the duct member 9|, the

inlet passages 49 within the lower compartment ment.

I3 of the unit, over the. surfaces of the motor compressor unit 4|, then upwardly over the surfaces of the condenser 52, past the fan 66upwardly through the passage 5| and then outwardly through the upper portion of said passage 5| and the outlet passage'93 in the duct member 8 I.

The vaporous refrigerant is compressed by the Amotor compressor unit 4|, raising the temperature thereof to a high value. It is then conveyed through the tubing 14, in which it serves to heat the partition 45. It then ows through the condenser in which it is transformedv to the liquid state. The condensed refrigerant then flows through the tube '|8, in which its pressure is reduced. During the first portion of its travell through the tube 18, the condensed refrigerantrefrigerant then flowsl through the suction conduit, in a portion of which it receives heat from the'refrigerant in the tube 18 and then enters sage 5|a generally similar to the iirst embodiment. The condensate formed on the evaporator is collected directly on the partition Ila, which is made of a rust-resisting metal and provided with a flange ordam 91 to form Ia sump. From the latter, the condensate is drained by gravity through a tube 98 to a pan 89, which is mounted beneath the partition Ila by brackets |00 secured to the partitions 45a. The pan 99 is provided with a anged opening through which the motor shaft 68 extends,'as shown in Fig. I. A length of tubing |9I, wound spirally, is

)placed on the bottom of the pan and heats the the' motor compressor unit to be recompressed.

The moisture Ycondensed from the air by the evaporator I8 drops to the drip pan |9- and is collected thereby. Thence it ilows by gravity through the tube 83 to the atomizer 82, from Which it is thrown by centrifugal force and/cr air currents to the partition 45. On the latter. it receives heat supplied from the high temperature refrigerant gas in the tubing 'I4 and it is vaporized and carried'oif in the stream of air dischargedfrom the fan 66. The latter air has had its temperature raised by the heat extracted from the condenser 52 so that it has highl moisture absorbing capacity. The moisture is, therefore, discharged from the unit along with the condenser air stream.

The wall portions enclosing the lower com-A enclosurein which 'the air conditioning apparatus is enclosed, there is preferably provided an opening `95 in the horizontal partition Il. An adjustable door 86 is preferably provided for controlling the flow of air through said opening.

The direction of flow of air through this opening depends upon the proportions of the several air passages, the size of the lter 30, etc. Preferably, the apparatus is designed for ilow of air downwardly therethrough so that room air is drawn into the condenser air stream and withdrawn therewith from the enclosure. Such withl of the evaporator I8 is provided. The increased condensate'received therein. The tubing IBI is connected between the compresser outlet and the condenser inlet, similarly to the tubing 14 ofi the first embodiment, so that compressed refrigerant gas at relatively high temperature flows therethrough.

The motor 61, driving the evaporator fan 3| and the condenser fan 66, is mounted on brackets 88a secured to the partitions 45a. In other respects, the second embodiment of Figs. 6, 7 and 8 may be, as shown, similar to the rst embodiment of Figs. 1 to 5.

In the operation of the second embodiment, a portion of the condenser air stream flows around the front edge and over the top of the pan 99, and evaporates the condensate contained therein. The vaporization is facilitated by the heat supplied from the refrigerant gas flowing through the tubing IBI. In other respects, the operation of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment. Any suitable provision, such as the addition of the atomizer 82 of Figs. 1 to 5, may be made i'or disposing of any excess condensate which is not evaporated in the pan 88 and which overilowsthe same.

4One advantage of the second embodiment is that a greater height of air filter 39 may be provided. Also, improved ilow of air to the bottom height of the rear edge of the partition IIa increases the range through which the window duct 9| maybe adjusted.

therefore, that only such limitations shall be4 placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or ars/are specifically set forth in thel appended drawal results in inltration of outdoor air into the enclosure to replace the withdrawn air.

Figures 6, 7 and 8 In Figs. 6, '7 and 8, I show -a second embodiment in which the partition I Ia between the upper and lower compartments is inclined rearwardly. Two

at vertical partitions 45a are substituted for' between'inlet passages 49aand an outlet pas- What I claim is:

1. In a unit air conditioner, the combination of a housing, a partition providing an evaporator compartment and a machine compartment in the housing, an evaporator disposed in said evaporator compartment, partition means in said machine compartment including opposed vertical wall portions and forming an air passage in said machine compartment between said opposed vertical wall portions, said housing 'having an out? let opening adjacent the upper end of the machine compartment and communicating with the' upper end of said passage and inlet openings disposed on opposite sides of the outlet opening and communicating with the upper end of the machine compartment outside of said passage, a condenser and a compressor disposed in said machine compartment, and air translating means disposed insaidV machine compartment and effecting ilow of air inwardly through said inlet openings, downwardly through the machine com-,-

partment outside of said air passage, through said passage, and outwardly through said outlet opening, said air also owing in contact with the surfaces of said condenser.

2. In a unit air conditioner, the combination of a housing, a partition providing an upper comy partment and a lower compartment'in the hous' upper end, of the lower compartment and communicating with the upper end of said passage and inlet openings` disposed on opposite sides of the outlet opening and communicating with the upper end of the lower compartment outside of said passage, and a propeller blower disposed in said air passage and operating to effect now of air inwardly through said inlet openings, downwardly through the lower compartment outside of said air passage, upwardly over the surfaces of said condenser and through said passage, and outwardly through said outlet opening.

3. In a self-contained unitair conditioner, the combination of ahousing structure having a partition dividing the same into an upper cooling compartment and a lower machine compartment, an evaporator in said cooling compartment, partition walls suspended from said partition in spaced relation to two vertical walls of the machine compartment and defining a vertical air passage on at least two sides thereof, a condenser disposed across said air .passage adjacent the lower end thereof, a fourth vertical wall of said vmachine compartment having an outlet opening communicating with the upper end of said air passage and two inlet openings disposed on opposite sides of said air passage and outlet opening, a fan-disposed in said air passage above the condenser for effecting flow of air upwardly through said passage, whereby air admitted through said inlet openings flows downwardly along theA inside of three vertical walls of the machine compartment to the underside of the condenser, and upwardly through the condenser and` said air passage to said outlet opening.

first-mentioned air passage and other passages i disposed at the same level as said one passage and adapted to communicate with the lower compartment outside of the first-mentioned air passage and on opposite sides thereof, the height of those portions of the first-mentioned air passage and of said lower compartment which are adapted to communicate with the passages in the duct member being substantially greater than the height of said duct member so as to provide' latitude in the height at which the duct membermay be disposed, and said housing being constructed and adapted so that the duct member may be attached thereto at varying. heights to adapt the same for window sills of various heights.

5. In a self-contained unit air conditioner, the combination of a casing, a partition dividing the casing 'into an upper compartment and a lower compartment, an evaporator disposed in the upper compartment for cooling and dehumidifying air, partition means in the lower compartment .providing a vertical air 'passage therein, a horizontal condenser extending entirely vacross said air passage adjacent the lower end thereof, a propeller fan and driving motor disposed'in said passage above the condenser, va pan disposed in said passage above said fan and motor, means for draining moisture condensed by said evaporator to said pan, means for conveying high temperature refrigerant in heat transfer relation to the moisture `in said pan to supply heat for vaporization thereof, said fan being adapted to effect flow of air downwardly through the lower 4. In a unit air conditioner, the combination of a housing, a rst partition dividing the housing compartment and upwardly over the surfaces of said condenser and through said passage and over the top of said pan to vaporize the moisture contained therein.

f ARTHUR H. EBERI-IART. 

